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April 27, 2005 12:01 AM

Broken: Elevator call button

Img_1332Joe Staffel writes:

This is an elevator call button in an office building in Pittsburgh.  Notice the up call button is located in the spot typically used for down.  Very amusing to both the tenants and visitors...

Everyone cracks up when they see this in person for the first time; it's so dumb! The upper button does nothing.  The photo was taken within the street level lobby--there is no lower floor, so there is no down.

Comments:

I like the fire warning though, that's interesting!

Posted by: Reed at April 27, 2005 08:07 AM

The other button doesn't have a directional on it so to me it's not broken.

Posted by: Jen (the cute one) at April 27, 2005 09:42 AM

But Jen, if someone comes to the building for the first time (and maybe makes this mistake occaisionally), common practice is that if there are two buttons and you want to go up, you hit the top button. Why negate this generally accepted scheme by having the bottom button make you go up, and the top button does nothing? There's no point to it.

Posted by: Manni at April 27, 2005 10:22 AM

The up button is not broken. It is labeled correctly, lights up when pressed, and has the desired effect.

What is broken is the overall design, which places the UP button on the bottom of the plate opposite another button in the TOP position. (It turns out this button has no effect). So it turns out that it takes more than a correct label to have a good design.

Posted by: Robby Slaughter at April 27, 2005 11:30 AM

The small hospital where I work was originally supposed to be five floors, but work was stopped after only two floors were built. For 20 years, the elevators had buttons for five floors even though the hospital only had two floors. As you can imagine, this caused mass confusion until the elevators were renovated last year and the extra buttons removed.

Posted by: Radem44 at April 27, 2005 12:14 PM

what hapened when you pressed the 3,4,5 buttons. Nothing?

Posted by: unknown at April 27, 2005 03:15 PM

"what hapened when you pressed the 3,4,5 buttons. Nothing?"

No, it makes you levitate above the roof.

Posted by: Shadow at April 27, 2005 03:53 PM

""what hapened when you pressed the 3,4,5 buttons. Nothing?"

No, it makes you levitate above the roof."

Cool!!! :)

Posted by: John at April 27, 2005 03:59 PM

"""what hapened when you pressed the 3,4,5 buttons. Nothing?"

No, it makes you levitate above the roof."

Cool!!! :)"

Very Cool!!! :D

Posted by: Invalid Atribute Index Bob at April 27, 2005 04:24 PM

"""what hapened when you pressed the 3,4,5 buttons. Nothing?"

No, it makes you levitate above the roof."

Cool!!! :)"

Very Cool!!! :D

Unless it's Summer, then It's Hot!

Posted by: Joshua Wood at April 27, 2005 04:30 PM

"""what hapened when you pressed the 3,4,5 buttons. Nothing?"

No, it makes you levitate above the roof."

Cool!!! :)"

Very Cool!!! :D

Unless it's Summer, then It's Hot!

What about the winter? Brrrrr

Posted by: Mike at April 27, 2005 04:42 PM

""""what hapened when you pressed the 3,4,5 buttons. Nothing?"

No, it makes you levitate above the roof."

Cool!!! :)"

Very Cool!!! :D

Unless it's Summer, then It's Hot!

What about the winter? Brrrrr"

What about the spring? Will you get rained on while levitating?

Posted by: Fuzzy at April 27, 2005 05:10 PM

You people (Joshua Wood and Mike) need to learn how to use quotation marks. ;) You're broken!

(just teasing, of course)

Posted by: anitsirK at April 27, 2005 05:51 PM

""""what hapened when you pressed the 3,4,5 buttons. Nothing?"

No, it makes you levitate above the roof."

Cool!!! :)"

Very Cool!!! :D

Unless it's Summer, then It's Hot!

What about the winter? Brrrrr"

What about the spring? Will you get rained on while levitating?

On windy days could you levitate over to the next building? That would be nifty.

Posted by: Anton at April 27, 2005 06:58 PM

"what hapened when you pressed the 3,4,5 buttons. Nothing?"

No, it makes you levitate above the roof."

Cool!!! :)"

Very Cool!!! :D

Unless it's Summer, then It's Hot!

What about the winter? Brrrrr"

What about the spring? Will you get rained on while levitating?

On windy days could you levitate over to the next building? That would be nifty.

What if there is a hurricane?

Posted by: joe plaugher at April 27, 2005 07:23 PM

Take the steps!

Posted by: Mr.Kimball at April 27, 2005 07:36 PM

"what hapened when you pressed the 3,4,5 buttons. Nothing?"

No, it makes you levitate above the roof."

Cool!!! :)"

Very Cool!!! :D

Unless it's Summer, then It's Hot!

What about the winter? Brrrrr"

What about the spring? Will you get rained on while levitating?

On windy days could you levitate over to the next building? That would be nifty.

What if there is a hurricane?

If there's a hurricane, then the hospital is in Florida.

Posted by: Bob at April 27, 2005 09:54 PM

WHO GIVES A FUCKING SHIT, WOULD YOU PEOPLE SHUT YOUR FUCKING NO-LIFE MOUTHS???

Posted by: Jim at April 28, 2005 12:23 AM

What do you mean there is no lower floor so a down button isn't needed? If you go up you must go ..... right?

Posted by: Broke at April 28, 2005 01:15 AM

Cancel that last question, I was thinking this was inside the elevator.....

Posted by: Broke at April 28, 2005 01:17 AM

Cancel that last question, I was thinking this was inside the elevator.....

Posted by: Broke at April 28, 2005 01:18 AM

Perhaps amusingly broken for the tenants and visitors - but a nightmare for the blind. tsk tsk - badly broken.

Posted by: Kay at April 28, 2005 07:06 AM

I see some of the posters on this thread are broken, too!

Posted by: Robert A. Dugger at April 28, 2005 12:34 PM

The idea that something can be "counterintuitive" and "confusing" but not "broken", is broken. While it's not the worst mistake I've seen, it is confusing, clearly labelled or no.

Posted by: Bianca at April 28, 2005 05:39 PM

Yeah no braille, wrong location.. might be close to illegal in a couple states... also I was noticing that the buttons on the top in the fire seem to all be saying do not use the elevator during fire use stairs etc.. Im guessing other then that they have no function and are in a way broken?

Posted by: Infinity at April 30, 2005 11:29 PM

Looks to me like Jim needs and enema.

Posted by: Chaos at May 2, 2005 01:54 PM

"But what happened when you pressed the 3,4 and 5 buttons, NOTHING?

Posted by: magickman66 at May 2, 2005 11:48 PM

woah, deja vu.

Posted by: real_saddam at May 3, 2005 09:48 PM

Cool! It'll be like the Glass Elevator!

Posted by: Ophelia at May 6, 2005 03:47 PM

We have one two-story department store that has an elevator that includes a third floor button with nothing written on it (inside the car). It was pushable and even lit up, but only took you to the second floor just as if you pressed "2".

They renovated (the mall was built in 1969) the elevator car, including new control panels, and amazingly, they have that same button (now not pushable) still!

Posted by: Brian at July 24, 2005 02:07 PM

I guess I shouldn't bother posting that there is a 15 story building in Pittsburgh that has an elevator that goes up to 20.

Posted by: name at December 12, 2005 04:10 AM

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